Viestinviejöinä

Viestinviejöinä refers to a group of instructors in the Satakunta region of Finland, who provide cultural and social skills training to Finnish immigrants from the 18th to the 20th centuries. The program, which translates to "conversations tutors" in English, was designed to teach immigrants to Finnish language, as well as the customs and social norms of Finland.

The viestinviejöinä program was introduced by the Swedish-Finnish clergy in the late 18th century, primarily to assist Finnish speakers who were migrating to the Satakunta region to work in the Swedish military. The program's primary goal was to provide immigrants with sufficient language skills to carry out their daily lives and interact with the local population.

Courses offered under the viestinviejöinä program included language instruction, social etiquette, and cultural assimilation. Instructors, known as viestinviejä, were typically former ministers or social leaders who served as role models for the immigrants.

The program played a crucial role in assisting Finnish immigrants to adapt to their new life in the Satakunta region and helped bridge the cultural gap between the Finnish speakers and the majority Swedish population. By the mid-19th century, the program had grown in popularity and spread to other regions of Finland. Although the specific methods and instructors varied over time, the viestinviejöinä program remains an important example of 19th-century Finnish social service and cultural integration efforts.